* June 9, 2012 *

Went on a MVA call yesterday & then grabbed a double cheeseburger & came home & collected a lot of graphics & even played with PSP a bit myself. What I finally ended up doing mostly was coding my Web pages. Made them look all fancy again. I missed the personal touch of the graphics backgrounds with the borders & all the pretty stuff. The only thing missing from the days of old is the midi tune playing in the background ... but I have iTunes now. :) FD Maintenance Tuesday night.

Accepting compliments:

A simple "Thank you!" is the best reply, especially when followed with, "I'm so glad you think so" or "you're so nice to say so." Receiving compliments graciously is difficult for some people. If you're taught not to be a show-ff, it's easy to have an impulse to dismiss praise. (For instance, a typical response to "What a great job you did!" might be "Oh, it was nothing.") Just thank the person without trying to tell them the compliment doesn't mean anything. You'll both feel good about the exchange.

"Cars" released (2006):

On this day in 2006, the animated feature film "Cars," produced by Pixar Animation Studios, roars into theaters across the United States.

For "Cars," which won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, Pixar's animators created an alternate America inhabited by vehicles instead of humans. The film's hero is Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), a Corvette-like race car enjoying a sensational debut on the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) circuit. Arrogant and foolish, with talent to burn, McQueen thinks of himself as a one-man show. After he refuses a tire change during the prestigious Piston Cup race, McQueen blows a huge lead, setting up a three-way tie-breaking race with The King, a longtime champion, and Chick Hicks, an intimidating competitor with a chip on his shoulder. On the way to the race site in California, however, McQueen goes off course (and off the interstate) and ends up in Radiator Springs, a forgotten town on the now-defunct Route 66.

At first desperate to escape, McQueen learns to appreciate Radiator Springs, especially after finding a best friend (the rusting tow-truck Mater, as in Tow-Mater), a love interest (Sally Carrera, a fetching Porsche) and a mentor (it turns out the town's gruff doctor-mechanic, Doc Hudson, is actually the Hudson Hornet, a real-life NASCAR legend). Among the other memorable inhabitants of Radiator Springs are an aging hippie VW van; a military Jeep named Sarge; Flo, a glamorous show car and proprietress of the V-8 Café (a gas station); Ramon, a Chevy Impala low rider; and Guido, a Fiat who owns a tire shop and is obsessed with Ferraris. 

As director John Lasseter told The New York Times, he was inspired to make "Cars" by a cross-country road trip he took with his wife and five sons, as well as by a general love of automobiles. While researching the movie, the team of animators traveled along the historic Route 66, once the iconic route to the American West and now bypassed by interstate highways. (The "Mother Road" was decertified in 1985 and has been reborn as a tourist attraction.) In addition to the painstaking depictions of both classic and modern cars and their distinctive personalities, "Cars" features the voices of some of the leading figures in auto racing, beginning with the late Paul Newman, the legendary actor-turned-race car driver, as Doc Hudson. Racing legends Mario Andretti (as himself), Richard Petty (as The King) and Michael Schumacher (as a Ferrari) can also be heard, along with sports announcers Darrell Waltrip and Bob Costas.

Do your child's end of the school year papers overwhelm you? Tackle that pile WITH your child. Get them involved in the keep vs. purge decision. It's never too early to teach a child clutter basics.

Faineant:

Idle & ineffectual : indolent.

David preferred a life of faineant self-indulgence to the pressures of a career, & his inheritance made such a life possible.

You've probably guessed that this word was bottowed from French. Specifically, it derives from fait-nient, which literally means "does nothing," & it ultimately traces back to the verb faindre, or feindre, meaning "to feign." "Faineant" 1st appeared in print in the early 17th century as a noun meaning "an irresponsible idler," & by 1854 it was also being used as an adjective. It tends to be used when the context calls for a fancier or more elegant word than "inactive" or "sluggish."

Happy Hours:

*** As featured on CNN, CNBC, TechCrunch, Mashable & Gizmodo's 'The Week's Best iPhone Apps' ***
More cities are on the way! Check out the list below to see if you're covered.
Happy Hours, the USA's premier happy hour guide, shows all of the food and drink specials going on near you. Click through to see a photo of the bar or restaurant, and details such as the menu, location, amenities, and what other people have to say. Our happy hour ranks are based on the community, so don't forget to vote up your favorite spots. Happy Hours is powered by GoTime.com and many of the nation's top print and web publications including the Village Voice, LA Weekly and Phoenix New Times.
The app is free, and it's now available in over 100 US cities. Cheers!
Supported cities (many more on the way!):
Akron, Albany, Albuquerque, Allentown, Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Atlantic City, Augusta, Austin, Baltimore, Bend, Birmingham, Boise, Boston, Broward / Palm Beach, Buffalo, Burlington, Champaign, Charleston, Charlotte, Charlottesville, Chattanooga, Chicago, Chico, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Columbia, Columbus, Corona, Dallas / Fort Worth, Davenport, Dayton, Denver / Boulder, Des Moines, Detroit, El Paso, Eugene, Fargo, Fresno, Greensboro, Hartford, Hazleton, Hoboken, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Ithaca, Jacksonville, Jersey City, Kansas City, Knoxville, Lafayette, Lansing, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Louisville, Madison, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis / St. Paul, Missoula, Nashville, New Haven, New Orleans, New York, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orange County, Orlando, Palm Springs, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Raleigh / Durham, Reno, Richmond, Rochester, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco / Bay Area, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Scranton, Seaside, Seattle, Spokane, St. Louis, Syracuse, Tacoma / Olympia, Tampa, Tucson, Tulsa, Ventura, Virginia Beach / Norfolk, Washington DC, Wilkes Barre and Worcester

How can you make compost in a small space not large enough for the recommended 3-bin compost system?

Use a pair of large plastic garbage pails. 1st, line the bottom of 1 pail with several thicknesses of newspaper. Then start adding the fallen leaves from plants that are free of diseases, along with small pieces of soft kitchen vegetable matter, if you wish.

Every few inches, add a thick layer of packaged cow manure. Top the manure with a few inches of straw, shredded dry leaves, or newspaper cut in strips, then start adding plant debris & kitchen waste again. Keep the materials moist, watering if the weather is dry, covering the pail in rainy weather. Layer in materials until the pail is full; let it sit for 2 weeks.

Line the 2nd pail with newspapers. Empty in the contents of the full pail, stirring a bit as you go. Let the compost sit for 2 weeks, then repeat the pail-switching routing every 2 weeks. The compost should be ready to use in about 2 months from the time you 1st filled the pail.

Marriage is all about unity. Once the rings go on those fingers, it's a we thing, not a me thing. Husbands & wives must work together to form a game plan that will help them win in life, & that includes finances!

This unusual South African native grows outdoors all year in southern Florida, California, & Hawaii. In colder climates, it's strictly a houseplant, but only mature plants are capable of setting the striking orange & blue flower spikes. This may take as long as 6 years. What is it? Extra points for giving its scientific name, too.

Toaster ovens:

They bake, toast, defrost, top-brown - all without heating up the kitchen.

Warm, rich mocha, full of milk & whipped cream.

What are the only two landlocked countries in the world that are surrounded by countries that are also landlocked?

What early 20th-century baseball great was the first player to have his autograph burned into the barrel of his bat?

Pittsburgh Pirate shortstop Honus Wagner, in 1905. The bat was a Louisville Slugger.

Which game show came 1st?

A. Let's Make A Deal

B. The Price Is Right

C. Jeopardy!

BAC. Let's Make A Deal debuted in 1963, & it's probably on air somewhere or other, even as we speak.